Hi, John;
FYI, here in Brazil we have an 'e-bay' local equivalent called 'Mercado Livre' (could translate to Free Market). There are two HP27S´s being sold right now. One is new in the box for about R$450,00 (~US$255,00) and the other is just the calculator and protective cover, for about R$290,00 (~US$165,00). Used HP17BII can be found for less than half of it...
I like the HP27S because it is versatile. It lacks programming (but it has the SOLVER) and RPN, but it offers a lot more. If you are a Production Engineer the HP27S is a handy 'swiss knife' calculator. Of course, you can buy a new HP50G and customize it to go far beyond the HP27S, but the HP27S is from 1988, an almost 23 Y.O. design. And was available NIB from HP for no more than four years. It is a rare piece.
One of the guys that has been restoring and repairing calculators is Geoff Quickfall, along with some others. His works in restoration and repair led him to write a book about it. I consider it a must have...
Now for the HP17BII repair. I once rebuilt an HP42S from a non-working HP17BII 'who' donated the LCD and the keyboard contacts (the whole metal plate) and another HP42S with a relatively good case and mainboard. I also used this little 'frankencalc' as my first 32KRAM transplantation, and the little thing survived! Well, it has two columns and one row in the LCD that do not turn on (its 'scars'), but hey! That´s fine, I use it regularly.
I know that 'peeling' the keyboard faceplate out allows the plastic rivets to be accessed and the frame to be replaced, but I did that only with an HP15C I rebuilt from an HP11C´s case and mainboard. I removed the 11C´s IC´s and kbd faceplate and 'inplanted' the IC's and faceplate from two different HP15C's. I must tell you I had a lot of difficulties do remove the kbd faceplate, but one of our regular contributors has the skills and have found a way This the 'frankensister' or 'frankenbrother' of teh other one... (sound too familiar, I know). The cosmetics are not exactly what I expected, but this little one is also working for many years.
About the mainboard: there must be a better way to remove it, if it feels jammed than I'd think twice prior to try to pop it out with a cutting blade. If I may, I'd suggest using something that bends itself instead of something that might bend the calculator case, the PCB or that might damage something...
Not so much of a help, though, but that´s what I'd try to.
Success!
Luiz (Brazil)
(P.S. - I'd LOVE to have an HP27S like the one announced in 'Mercado Livre' here, and I have an HP17BII of the early type - brown case, no language option - but I am not so sure if it is worth risking the mail for a trade... Picking me for a trade was more like a wish than a request... Others, fairly closer to you, would benefit in such trade, and I'd encourage so)
Edited: 10 July 2010, 10:00 p.m.
